Now Seed Corn Should Be In the Ground

I finished working over my corn ground yesterday evening, and today, with a little luck, I will get the last 80 acres of corn planted. That is barring any breakdowns. I did plant some corn on April 18 about 36 hours before the really cold weather. Agronomists talk about cold shocking the seed if the first water it absorbs is really cold. You can end up with a poor stand. Hopefully all the corn planted mid-April will be OK. We will know in a couple weeks.

The past two springs we saw a lot of rain, and planting conditions were very difficult. Soils were wet and you were concerned about side-wall compaction. This is where the disk opener on the planter compacts the soil. Then the corn seedling has a tough time getting those young, tender roots through it. Last year we had no choice except to plant because it was getting late. You planted and hoped for the best. It is so nice this year with nearly perfect soil conditions.